CI Investments Inc. decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,441 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 33,171 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $83,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 888.9% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 101.5% in the second quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 90 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.
Costco Wholesale Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $723.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,764,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,978,599. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $465.33 and a fifty-two week high of $729.06. The company has a market capitalization of $321.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $681.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $605.35.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 14th. The retailer reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $57.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.79 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 27.44% and a net margin of 2.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.81%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,194 shares of company stock worth $10,420,927. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Northcoast Research cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.96.
Costco Wholesale Company Profile
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.